Creative Writing | GCSE Revision Guide | AQA
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers a comprehensive guide to creative writing, focusing on crafting descriptions or stories for AQA's Language Paper 1 Question 5. It emphasizes the importance of using language devices, a variety of sophisticated punctuation, and structuring paragraphs for effect to achieve high marks. The instructor provides tips on using dialogue sparingly and maintaining technical accuracy, particularly in tense usage. Additionally, the script introduces techniques for creating cyclical structures and using punctuation like semicolons, dashes, and ellipses to enhance writing.
Takeaways
- 🍰 **Creative Writing as a Cake**: The instructor likens creative writing to baking a cake, emphasizing that every ingredient (literary device) is crucial for a well-rounded piece.
- ✍️ **Language Devices**: Every sentence should include a language device such as similes, metaphors, or alliteration to enhance the writing.
- 📐 **Range of Punctuation**: At least five different types of punctuation should be used, including higher-level marks like semicolons, dashes, and ellipses.
- 📄 **Paragraphing**: Utilize a mix of long and short paragraphs, including one-line paragraphs, to mirror the narrative's flow and impact.
- 🔑 **Sentence Starters**: Employ a variety of sentence starters to avoid monotony and enhance the structure of the writing.
- 📘 **Sophisticated Vocabulary**: Incorporate advanced vocabulary to elevate the writing and avoid basic, overused words.
- 🗣️ **Dialogue**: Include a line of dialogue to demonstrate the ability to write conversation, but avoid excessive dialogue that detracts from the narrative.
- 🔍 **Technical Accuracy**: Maintain correct spelling, grammar, and consistent tenses, with a recommendation to use past tense to avoid confusion.
- 🔁 **Structuring for Effect**: Use cyclical structures or mirror the story's events through the length and arrangement of paragraphs.
- 📚 **Punctuation Usage**: Learn to use semicolons, dashes, and ellipses correctly to add sophistication and depth to the writing.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video script?
-The main focus of the video script is to guide students on how to improve their creative writing skills, specifically for AQA's Language Paper 1 Question 5, which is a 40-marker creative writing task.
What is the metaphor used in the script to describe the ingredients of creative writing?
-The metaphor used in the script to describe the ingredients of creative writing is a cake, where each ingredient represents an element that the examiner looks for in a high-scoring piece.
What are the two types of content that students can write about in the AQA Language Paper 1 Question 5?
-Students can either write a description of a wintry night suggested by a picture or write a story that begins with the sentence 'This was going to be a terrible day.'
How much time do students typically have to complete the creative writing task?
-Students typically have about 45 minutes to write their creative writing piece for AQA Language Paper 1 Question 5.
What are the two main categories of marks in the creative writing task?
-The two main categories of marks in the creative writing task are content and organization (24 marks), and technical accuracy (16 marks).
What is the first ingredient that students should include in their creative writing according to the script?
-The first ingredient that students should include in their creative writing is the use of language devices in every sentence, such as similes, metaphors, and alliteration.
How many different types of punctuation should students include in their writing?
-Students should include at least five different types of punctuation in their writing.
What is the significance of including long and short paragraphs in creative writing?
-Including long and short paragraphs helps to mirror the events or emotions in the story and can contribute to a higher grade by demonstrating effective structuring for effect.
What is the advice given for using dialogue in creative writing?
-The advice is to include one line of dialogue to demonstrate the ability to use it effectively, but not to overuse it as it can detract from the overall mark.
Why is it recommended to stick to past tense when writing the creative piece?
-It is recommended to stick to past tense to maintain technical accuracy and avoid tense errors, as many students tend to slip into past tense even when attempting to write in present tense.
What is the cyclical structure technique mentioned in the script and how can it be used?
-The cyclical structure technique involves linking the beginning and end of a piece of writing, often by repeating certain words or phrases. This can be done by starting with three one-word sentences and ending with similar structures, creating a sense of unity in the writing.
Outlines
📝 Creative Writing: Ingredients for Success
This paragraph introduces the topic of creative writing, specifically focusing on the requirements for an AQA language paper 1 question 5, which is a 40-mark creative writing task. The speaker likens creative writing to baking a cake, emphasizing that while the basics can yield a result, adding certain 'ingredients' can make the writing more appealing. These ingredients include the use of language devices in every sentence, a range of sophisticated punctuation, a mix of long and short paragraphs and sentences, varied sentence starters, and the inclusion of sophisticated vocabulary and dialogue. The speaker also stresses the importance of technical accuracy, particularly in spelling and tense consistency, and advises sticking to the past tense to avoid errors.
📚 Structuring Paragraphs for Impact
The second paragraph delves into the technique of structuring paragraphs to reflect the narrative's mood and progression. The speaker provides examples of how paragraph length can mirror the story's events, such as an old man's life getting shorter or a girl's loneliness being emphasized by a solitary paragraph. The main focus is on achieving a grade seven to nine through effective structuring for effect. The speaker introduces the concept of a cyclical structure, suggesting strategies like starting and ending with one-word sentences or short sentences that link back to each other, creating a thematic circle that can impress examiners.
🖋 Mastering Punctuation for Creative Writing
In this paragraph, the focus shifts to the correct use of punctuation in creative writing. The speaker outlines the necessity of incorporating at least five different types of punctuation, including full stops, commas, question marks, semicolons, dashes, and ellipses. The speaker provides personal preferences and detailed explanations on how to use semicolons and dashes effectively, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the same topic on either side of a semicolon and offering tips on how to use dashes for added emphasis or to insert additional information. The paragraph also touches on the use of rhetorical questions and the avoidance of multiple exclamation marks for a more sophisticated tone.
✍️ Putting It All Together: Crafting a Grade-Nine Piece
The final paragraph wraps up the discussion by summarizing the key points covered in the video and encouraging practice. The speaker suggests that viewers should now try writing a descriptive piece incorporating all the learned techniques. The speaker also previews the next lesson, which will cover the remaining elements from the Mark scheme to help achieve a grade-nine creative writing piece. The paragraph ends with a call to action for viewers to like the video and explore more content in the series, emphasizing the practical application of the discussed techniques.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Creative Writing
💡Language Devices
💡Punctuation
💡Paragraphing
💡Sentence Structure
💡Sophisticated Vocabulary
💡Dialogue
💡Technical Accuracy
💡Cyclical Structure
💡Mark Scheme
💡Rhetorical Question
Highlights
Introduction to creative writing for AQA language paper 1 question 5
Explaining the importance of content and organization for a 40-marker creative writing task
The analogy of creative writing as a cake with necessary ingredients
The necessity of including language devices in every sentence
The requirement of a range of sophisticated punctuation
The importance of varying paragraph length for effect
The significance of including different sentence starters
The need for sophisticated vocabulary to avoid a basic writing style
The advice to include one line of dialogue without overusing it
The importance of technical accuracy, including correct spelling and tenses
The tip to stick to past tense to maintain technical accuracy
The concept of structuring paragraphs to mirror the story's events
The use of cyclical structure to link the beginning and end of a piece
The technique of starting with three one-word sentences for a dramatic effect
The suggestion to use colors or simple sentences to start and end a piece cyclically
The instruction on using at least five different types of punctuation
The correct usage of semicolons with examples
The effective use of dashes for adding afterthoughts or replacing brackets
The simple use of ellipses for dramatic pauses in sentences
The encouragement to practice writing a descriptive piece incorporating the learned techniques
The promise of further lessons to cover the rest of the Mark scheme
Transcripts
today we're going to be looking at
creative writing specifically writing a
description or a story
if your AQA this would be your language
paper 1 question 5 and the question
would look something like this a
magazine has asked for contributions for
their creative writing page either write
a description of a wintry night as
suggested by this picture or write a
story that begins with the sentence this
was going to be a terrible day one of
those days when it's best to stay in bed
because everything is going to turn out
bad it's 24 marks for content and
organization and 16 marks for technical
accuracy which means in total this is a
40 marker that is huge but we've got
about 45 minutes to write it I want you
to think of your creative writing as a
cake I can tell you all the ingredients
you need to make the best cake possible
and you can decide not to add the sugar
you'll still get a cake right but will
the cake be as yummy no I'm going to
give you in this lesson all the
ingredients you need to put into your
creative writing all the things the
examiner looks for and all you have to
do is not leave the sugar out make sure
you put it all in but don't worry after
I've given you the list I'm going to go
through and teach you how to do each one
one by one whether it's describe a
picture or write a story the ingredients
that you need to include are the same
the things that the examiner looks for
are the same get your pen and paper
ready start a brand new page called
creative writing Mark scheme and start
copying this down now the first thing
I'm going to tell you to include is your
language devices you need to make sure
every every single sentence you write
has some sort of language device in it
can I make this a simile oh I haven't
used a metaphor yet let me Chuck in some
alliteration unless it's a short
sentence for effect the next thing is a
range of sophisticated punctuation
that's basically split into two parts
firstly you need to make sure you have a
range of punctuation which means I want
you to count that you have included at
least five different types of
punctuation and the second part of that
is some of those punctuation marks need
to be higher level punctuation marks you
then need to make sure you include long
and short paragraphs including a
one-line paragraph
in the same way you need to include long
and short sentences including a one word
sentence now speaking of sentences you
also need to make sure you have
different sentence starters
and these two things different sentence
starters and long and short sentences
are what people mean when they talk
about sentence structure you might have
heard your teacher talk about sentence
structure these are the two things that
she's referring to now obviously we are
not basic so we don't want to use boring
basic words so we need to make sure we
include sophisticated vocabulary you
should try to include one line of
dialogue don't get carried away and do
like big paragraph great chunks of
dialogue lots of kids do this they start
thinking they're writing a play or like
a big Hollywood film and they're like
and then I said please don't eat me Mr
Dinosaur and he said raw I'm gonna eat
you and I said please all of that is not
going to get you marked just prove that
you can use dialogue just include it
once and then move on and lastly you are
not going to get a grade nine if your
writing has loads of spelling mistakes
eggs and the tenses are all over the
place so your work needs to be
technically accurate my top tip here is
stick to past tense a lot of students
think they can write in present tense
but I guarantee you will end up slipping
into past tense so it's safer just to
stick to past we've got our list down
but now I need to make sure you know how
to do these things so we're going to go
through them one by one and make sure
you know how to do them let's begin by
talking about paragraphing obviously you
need to have paragraphs in your writing
but to get a grade seven to nine you
need to do something called structuring
for effects that means you need to have
a mixture of short and long paragraphs
to kind of match what's happening in the
story so I had a student once who wrote
about an old man who was dying and the
first paragraph when he was like healthy
and young was the longest
and as he got older and as he got weaker
the paragraph got shorter and shorter
and shorter until the piece ended on a
one-line paragraph when he dies
why is that clever well the man's life
is getting shorter and that is mirrored
through the structure of the work
very grade nine I had another girl once
if I give you another example and she
wrote about someone who's run away from
home and it's the middle of the night
she's running down this Alleyway it's
night time she's scared and she hears
footsteps behind her she turns around
and then the next paragraph says she was
alone
and that's clever because the girls
alone and that paragraph is alone so
again the paragraphing the structuring
of the work is mirroring what's
happening in the story this might seem
difficult for you to do in an exam like
how you're going to think of that on the
spot but that's okay because the easiest
way for you to get your marks for
structuring for effect is to use
something called a cyclical structure so
let's just make the beginning of your
work link to the ending of your work I'm
going to give you some options on how to
do this write this down number one you
could start with three one word
sentences as a one-line paragraph
something like destruction
Devastation death
it's dramatic and think about it right
at the beginning of my work I have got a
mark for a one-line paragraph
one word sentences a rule of three and
in this specific example alliteration
I've got four marks and I haven't even
started my piece yet that is amazing and
at the end of that piece once I've done
a long paragraph describing the
battlefield and a long paragraph
describing the soldier who's hiding at
the end I will end with a one-line
paragraph again and I will say something
linking back to those three words
something like destruction was
everywhere Devastation surrounded me and
death was inevitable
do you see I took those three words from
the beginning I put them into phrases I
gave it a cyclical structure and the
examiner is like whoa
that was so clever how did she think of
that on the spot I didn't I knew I was
going to do it before I went in there
number two is similar you can start with
three one word sentences so something
like Crimson indigo violet
and then I'll do a long paragraph
describing how beautiful the island is a
long paragraph describing how a storm
came and destroyed everything
and then I'll end with black do you see
even though I'm not saying the exact
same words from the beginning it's still
cyclical because they're both colors
true story I did that in my real GCSE
that's why I really like it and number
three is you can if you don't want to do
the whole three one word thing that's
fine you can start with a short simple
sentence so start with a one-line
paragraph that says it was beautiful
that's it that's your whole opening
sentence and then we'll do a long
paragraph saying the island is really
beautiful oh look the Midas kiss sun no
look beautiful blue sky and then in the
middle of your piece you'll do a
one-line paragraph and you'll say it was
beautiful Dash until the storm came so I
repeat that one line from the beginning
in the middle and I add a little bit of
information and then I do a long
paragraph about how the storm has ruined
everything the wind that was once
melodious is now hounding
and then I end with a one liner so this
is my third one liner and it refers back
to those same one-liners and I say
something like it used to be beautiful
Dash but now it was ruined so that's
another nice structure for you to use in
your exam let's talk about punctuation
next now we need at least five different
types of punctuation right so you are
definitely going to use a full stop
I hope you are you're going to use a
comma
we're going to use a question mark
because we're going to have a rhetorical
question
I personally don't love exclamation
marks I feel like they're a little bit
childish and immature like crash
exclamation mark sometimes people do
more than one exclamation mark and
that's a No-No I just think it's more
sophisticated to say crash full stop
personally is a preference so I'm gonna
go with the ones I definitely want you
to use a full stop a comma a question
mark and then we need to Chuck in some
sophisticated ones and those are going
to be
semicolon
Dash and an ellipsis
again a personal preference I don't love
brackets I do like brackets in a
persuasive letter like if you're adding
a little humorous note like some people
may think brackets but I hope you don't
but in descriptive writing if I'm like
the obsidian sky was engulfed in
darkness brackets because the sun had
gone I just think it kills the mood a
little bit but again that's a personal
preference
if you don't know how to use a semicolon
correctly there are two rules
the first rule of using a semicolon
correctly is that both sentences on
either side of the semicolon need to be
about the same topic so you can't say
the Sun was shining semicolon Pizza is
yummy because it's not the same topic
you can say the Sun was shining
semicolon it was very bright
the second rule is the harder one is the
one that catches people out and that is
that both sentences on either side of
the semicolon need to be full and
complete sentences that make sense on
their own so let me test you would this
be correct or incorrect as I stepped
forward semicolon I was blown away by
the beauty of the landscape it's
incorrect because if I cover either side
of the semicolon they aren't full
sentences I can't come to you and say
hey as I stepped forward
it's not a full sentence
let's try another one the ocean was
stunning under the Moonlight semicolon
moving waving crashing
it's incorrect I can't come to you and
say hey moving waving crashing it's not
full sentence
sentence last one give this a go
Bob was revising really hard semicolon
because he had exams coming up
it's incorrect if we delete the because
it would become a correct use of a
semicolon because it would be full
sentences on either side that's a good
trick for you if you get to the end of
your exam and you're like oh my God I
forgot to use semicolon that's okay just
go back and replace one of your
becausees with a semicolon now with Dash
a dash is a bit easier to use because it
doesn't have to have full sentences on
either side I'm going to give you some
rules about using a dash the first is
the easiest way to use a dash is with
repetition at the end of a sentence for
example he was alone dad all alone
it was beautiful Dash extremely
beautiful I just repeat at the end I get
a mark for a petition and I get a mark
for using a dash Happy Days
you could literally just use it like
that and I'm happy with that however if
you want to challenge yourself a little
bit use rule number two you can use a
dash before a conjunction so before the
words and but or so a bit like just
adding a little afterthought onto a
sentence so something like this
I knew I shouldn't go into the house
Dash but I did it anyway
yeah so I just added a little bit of
afterthought at the end of the sentence
number three if you are feeling really
confident
you can use dashes to replace brackets
or commas and you can use them for
parentheses so basically adding some
extra information in the middle of a
sentence for example
I knew Dash or I hoped Dash that I would
pass my exams do you see that bit in the
middle it could have been two commas it
could have been brackets but I chose two
dashes yeah and if I delete that middle
bit out of the sentence I knew that I
would pass my exams would still make
sense by itself
I'll give you another example the boy
Dash who seemed lost and frightened Dash
coward in the corner of the room if rule
number three confuses you ignore it
forget that I said anything because just
use rule number one and it gets the job
done it will give you the mark now
ellipses is the easiest punctuation mark
to use because there aren't really any
rules as such it's just wherever you
believe there should be a Dun Dun Dun in
my head that's what an ellipsis is every
dot is a done it's just a Dun Dun
you don't want to end your whole piece
with an ellipses because I think that's
a bit primary school try to put it in
the middle of a sentence
for example I stepped forward and that's
when I saw him
you could put it at the end that's okay
but actually can I Chuck that ellipsis
in the middle of the sentence maybe
something like I stepped forward
that's when I saw him
you could even put it a bit later on and
say
I stepped forward and that's when I saw
Marie so it's wherever you want that
really dramatic pause so if we go back
to that creative writing Mark scheme the
list of ingredients I gave you at the
beginning we can tick some of these
things off we have learned how to
paragraph for effect
we have learned how to use a range five
different types of sophisticated
punctuation if I were you at this stage
I would go away and try and write a
descriptive piece using all of the
things that you've learned in today's
lesson and the next lesson I will take
you through the rest of the things that
you need to know from that Mark scheme
until your creative writing is a grade
nine I hope you found this video helpful
if you did give it a like and don't
forget to check out the rest of the
videos in this series
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